Inspector Lindsay Boxer stands on the terrace of her apartment and bounces between anger and overwhelming grief. She has a gun in her hand and is contemplating suicide.

David and Melanie Brandt have just been married in a ceremony held in a San Francisco hotel. They are in a hotel suite celebrating, when David gives Melanie earrings as a wedding gift. As they discuss the gift, someone knocks on the door. Melanie goes into the bathroom to try on the earrings and David answers the door.

When David Brandt opens the hotel room door, Phillip Campbell congratulates him and hands him a bottle of champagne. As David studies the bottle, Phillip stabs him in the chest. David falls to the floor. Phillip assesses his feelings, surprised he was capable of the crime. He hears Melanie’s voice coming from the bathroom. Melanie rushes toward David, but Phillip stops her and plunges the knife into her too. When she is dead, he carries her into the bedroom.